Dig deep into Assassin’s Creed IV and you’ll get to the muck of the previous titles.

For instance, the A button still works for fast-walking. And by fast I guess I mean 1% faster than your normal speed. Why on earth is it there? You almost never have to hide from guards in cities. In fact, the entire hiding in crowds feature is useless at this point. Seeing Edward go monochrome while he chit-chats with locals is only marginally useful during tailing missions, assuming you can’t find a bush or a corner to hide behind.

We can throw coins so that… umm… I forget. I loved doing that in Assassin’s Creed II, but now it’s just a bizarre charity. You’re no longer drowning under an avalanche of money and guards don’t need to be distracted. That’s easily accomplished with a whistle. Oh, I guess that means the dancers are pointless. As are the tough men unless you’re planning a frontal assault on a restricted area.

Huh. It’s weird to think about all the features we still have in these games that serves no purpose. It’s like if Halo 4 didn’t use the frag grenades from Halo 1. At least the sailing is a great addition, though I can’t see them using it in any other era.

Speaking of which, where could we go from here? Further in the present would be the Civil War or the Wild West, which makes the game Red Dead Redemption. They could go overseas again, say to Russia, for whatever reason. Or back further in time, to Japan’s feudal period. Or ancient Egypt or Greece and Rome. That might give us an opportunity to have a sailing ship again. Cruise the Mediterranean, maybe meet Plato and Socrates and have debates.

Before they get kidnapped by Bill S. Preston, Esquire and Ted “Theodore” Logan, of course.